Heard and Seen: The Herd Zine Journal
News
Call for Submissions:
Heard and Seen: The Herd Zine Journal invites submissions for its inaugural issue. Published through the Center for Appalachian Narratives at Marshall University, the journal provides a peer-reviewed publishing space where creative expression, lived experience, community knowledge, and scholarship intersect in zine format.
Marshall University's mascot, the Thundering Herd, reflects a tradition of community, resilience, and collective strength. Inspired by that spirit, Heard and Seen seeks to amplify voices and stories that are often overlooked, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
Theme: Combating Stereotypes: Demystifying Appalachian Everyday Lived Experiences Appalachia is frequently defined through stereotypes, assumptions, and incomplete narratives. Yet the region is far more diverse, creative, rersilient, and complex than these portrayals suggest.
For the inaugural issue of Heard and Seen: The Herd Zine Journal, we invite creators to challenge misconceptions and explore the realities of Appalachian life through personal narratives, artistic expression, cultural documentation, research-informed storytelling, and community perspectives.
We welcome submissions from both inside and outside Appalachia.
For contributors who live in or have roots in Appalachia, we encourage reflections on the everyday experiences, communities, traditions, challenges, and joys that are often absent from popular representations of the region.
For contributors from outside Appalachia, we invite thoughtful explorations of:
- Assumptions or stereotypes you have encountered about Appalachia
- How your understanding of the region has evolved
- Experiences living, working, studying, or collaborating in Appalachian communities
- Media portrayals and cultural narratives about Appalachia
- Moments when your expectations were challenged or transformed
- Connections between Appalachia and your own community or identity
Potential topics may include:
- Family, community, and belonging
- Education and career pathways
- Art, music, literature, and creativity
- Rural and urban Appalachian experiences
- Appalachian identity and self-representation
- Environmental stewardship and connection to place
- Innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership
- Foodways, traditions, and cultural practices
- Diversity within Appalachian communities
- Misconceptions, media portrayals, and representation
- Experiences of entering, leaving, returning to, or engaging with Appalachia
- Everyday stories that reveal the richness and complexity of life in the region
We are especially interested in submissions that move beyond simplistic narratives and foster greater understanding, empathy, and connection. Whether through research, art, personal storytelling, or reflection, contributors are encouraged to explore what Appalachia is—and what it is not.
Journal Sections
Informational Zines
Educational, research-informed, advocacy-oriented, or community-focused zines that communicate information in accessible and engaging ways.Art Zines
Visual, experimental, illustrative, photographic, comic, collage, or mixed-media works that use creative expression to explore the theme.Personal & Literary Zines
Memoir, poetry, personal essays, reflections, creative nonfiction, and storytelling centered on lived experience and identity.Why Publish in Heard and Seen?
Heard and Seen bridges scholarship, creativity, and community voice. We believe meaningful knowledge emerges from research, lived experience, artistic practice, cultural traditions, and everyday life.
Our peer-review process is designed to be supportive rather than gatekeeping. Reviewers provide constructive feedback intended to help creators strengthen their work while preserving their voice, perspective, and creative vision.
Whether you are an experienced zinester or creating your first zine, we encourage you to share your work.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should:- Be original work
- Engage with the theme Combating Stereotypes: Demystifying Appalachian Everyday Lived Experiences
- Fit within one of the journal's three sections
- Follow the journal's submission and formatting requirements
- Include creator information, keywords, and a brief description of the work
- Individual and collaborative submissions are welcome.
- Rolling Publication Model
Learn More & Submit
Visit the journal website for complete submission guidelines, aims and scope, and review process.
Help us tell a fuller story of Appalachia—one that moves beyond stereotypes and reflects the voices, experiences, creativity, and knowledge of the people who call this region home. This issue seeks not only to amplify Appalachian voices, but also to encourage meaningful conversations between those who call Appalachia home and those whose understanding of the region continues to evolve.
Let Appalachia be heard. Let Appalachia be seen.
